American manned lunar rover. Study 1990. The Daylight Rover was a Boeing concept of 1990, which consisted of two separate pressure vessels. The forward served as the driving station, and the rear served as a storm shelter and EVA airlock.

Two manipulating arms at the front of the rover performed most of the geological sampling and collecting, thereby minimizing the actual EVA required.

A small airlock was incorporated in the front to allow samples to be transferred to the module. The 23 to 25 metric ton rover would have most of its 10kW continuous electrical power requirement produced by regenerative fuel cells. Four sets of dual wheels, two on each vessel, were provided with integrated steering and electric drive mechanisms. The Daylight Rover could accommodate a crew of two for up to an 80 day mission, at a maximum range of 1000 km. 4 people could be accommodated in an emergency. Average speed was 4 km/hr in daylight, and 2 km/hr in dark.

Lunar Rovers Lunar rovers were studied in a dizzying variety of sizes and shapes by NASA in the 1960's - including crawlers, trains, hoppers, and even worms. Two rovers designed for manned use actually traveled the lunar surface in the 1970's - the American two-man Lunar Rover, and the Soviet Lunokhod, which traveled the moon in robotic mode but was originally designed as emergency cosmonaut transportation. More...